Marnell Corrao Associates has announced the topping off the M Resort, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. The $1 billion project is located on South Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway a bit of a ways from the Las Vegas Strip. The M Resort, Spa and Casino will have 390 guest rooms, nine restaurants, a destination wine cellar and tasting room, more than 60,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, a 23,000 square foot spa and fitness center and over 100,000 square foot pool and events piazza named Villaggio del Sole. Of course there will be a casino with over 92,000 square feet of gaming space including 1,846 slot machines, 64 table games and a state-of-the-art race and sports book. A March 2009 is planned.
The resort has also entered into a partnership with Taubman Center Inc. to create the first full-scale, department store anchored regional mall to be directly integrated into a casino resort. It will add one million square feet of in-line shopping to the resort and is expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012. Another feature of the resort will be a 63,000 square foot movie theater with 14 screens and 3,100 seat of all-stadium luxury seating with digital sound and premium concession selections,.
LuckyJets has just announced its carpool-in-the-skies, ferrying high rollers on private jets from Los Angeles, San Diego and Scottsdale straight to Las Vegas, along with additional popular casino destinations. Though you won't have the wings to yourself, a shared flight to Sin City could be ripe for the networking. And at $2,999 a flight with door-to-door limo service to boot, even if the tables treat you wrong, you're still flying high.
If you get in on the action soon, flying from L.A. or Scottsdale to Las Vegas, you'll receive a complimentary round-trip flight voucher. The deal is first-come first-served for bookings on LuckyJets' inaugural flight to gambler's heaven on August 8. Hey, if you're gonna play the game, boy, better learn to play it right.
American Express has launched a new travel series for members. Called the "Best Of," the series of travel packages pulls together the best from select cities around the globe. Each "Best Of" travel package allows Cardmembers to experience some of the world's greatest cities like a VIP. The "Best Of" packages, which can only be purchased using Membership Rewards points.
Their current offer is the "Best of Wynn Las Vegas" package. There are 15 packages available for members. Sponsored by Wynn Las Vegas Resort and Country Club, the package will take place from September 4 – 7. Cardmembers will receive round trip airfare from Delta Airlines, three night accommodations at Wynn Las Vegas' Tower Suites, a "Texas Hold Em" training session with World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker, dinner for two at the restaurant, Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare, inside Wynn Las Vegas with a personal presentation by Chef Paul Bartolotta and tickets to LE REVE, the performance in the aqua theater at the Wynn. The package costs 280,000 Membership Rewards points. The next package will take American Express members to Milan, Italy.
Yesterday I mentioned that actor Nicolas Cage had put his Las Vegas home on the market. Cage, who has a variety of properties scattered all around the world, picked up this home in 2006 for $8.5 million. The Wall Street Journal reports that at that time he also picked up a home for $2.25 million on the same street but sold it last year for $2.3 million. Cage is looking to make a little more cash on this one, he's listed it for $9.95 million. The WSJ says that the 14,000-square-foot home with the 16-car garage has been on the market since last fall.
The seven-bedroom home isn't particularly notable. It's blandly extravagant with a sweeping staircase, home theater, elevator and panoramic views of Las Vegas. The home has a pool and spa and is located in a gated community for privacy. It's rich but it's nothing special and given the soft las Vegas real estate market he may have some trouble getting rid of this one.
Yet another casino has been scrapped before it ever came to be. Australian billionaire James Packer was set to build the tallest casino in Las Vegas, the Crown Las Vegas but has scrapped the project due to the credit crunch and the dicey state of the economy. The $5 billion project would have included a 5,000-room hotel on the site of the former Wet N' WIld water park along the Strip. The plans included a 1,064-foot tower which would have become the highest building in the ctiy. Marketwatch reports that Crown will take a $42 million charge against earnings. Crown holds a 37.5 percent stake in the LVTI LLC venture which was to develop the 27-acre site next to the Fontainebleau Las Vegas development.
In a troubled economic time, it's quite fascinating to attend a show aimed at helping people sell jewelry, a non-essential item that might be the first thing axed out of the budget when times get tough. It does appear that many owners of jewelry stores are worried. Small independent stores, similarly to small bookstores, have been fighting a difficult battle for years, facing competition from a variety of angles including jewelry store chains, discount retailers, and the internet. At the JCK Show in Las Vegas held at the Venetian Hotel, I sat in on a couple of marketing sessions aimed at jewelers to learn how they will be selling to their customers now that they need their business perhaps more than they ever have before.
Once concern seems to be how to attract younger people. The majority of jewelry store owners appear to be in the Baby Boomer demographic and they don't always know how to connect with younger generations. Have you ever walked into a jewelry store and felt like they weren't speaking your language when it comes to selling to you? NIck Failla, of Premier Consulting Innovations suggests that part of the problem might be that they may have been selling to you as if you were your parents. At the JCK Show he spoke to jewelers explaining that the generation gap is more than just a question of age but a question of values. The issues he spoke on reminded me of similar themes discussed at the Luxury Summit back in April. Selling luxury goods to the younger consumer involves more than just a glossy ad featuring a popular celebrity. Failla brought up the successes of lifestyle brands like Cadillac and Apple; it's his assertion that "people don't buy brands, they join brands" they want to be part of what the brand represents. He also made a very important point that for Generations X and Y humor sells a lot. Until he mentioned it I hadn't really considered it but this is very true. Jewelry stores use many different types of advertising pitches but most of them focus on selection, price and luxury. What they don't stress is fun, they show you how luxurious a piece is rather than how good it would make you feel. This is something I've noticed overall in the luxury market, but I suspect it is starting to shift with the changing tastes of today's consumer. Just strolling out of the Venetian Hotel, I saw a billboard for Barney's New York touting that they offer "Taste. Luxury. Humor."
Given Elvis Presley's long association with Las Vegas it seems strange that it has taken until now for an Elvis-themed casino to hit the Strip but Elvis is finally getting his own Vegas hotel. The plans call for a $3.1 billion development with an "Elvis-inspired" luxury hotel and casino, convention space, retail space, restaurants, showroom and a separate hotel-condominium building that will be operated by a joint-venture partner. There will also be complete wedding services for those with a hankering for an Elvis-themed wedding. Construction is set to begin at the start of 2009 with completion planned for the end of 2012.
New York-based FX Real Estate and Entertainment is a newly formed company that owns nearly 18 acres of land located at the southeast corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Harmon Avenue in Las Vegas known as the Park Central Property. Their plan is to turn that area into a a hotel, casino, entertainment, retail, commercial and residential development project. They have entered into license agreements with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., and Muhammad Ali Enterprises LLC, that allows them to use the intellectual property associated with these two icons in the development of real estate and entertainment attraction projects. The company plans to also pursue the development of, one or more hotels as part of the master plan of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. to redevelop the Graceland property and surrounding areas in Memphis, Tennessee.
For a brief shining moment it looked like art was going to be the next big thing in Las Vegas casinos, soon there will be only Las Vegas Strip museum now (the gallery in the Bellagio) that the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in the Venetian is set to close on May 11. In 2001, the Guggenheim opened two Las Vegas museums designed by Rem Koolhaas: the Guggenheim Las Vegas and the Guggenheim Hermitage. The Guggenheim Las Vegas closed 15 months later after one showy exhibit dedicated to the Art of the Motorcycle. The Guggenheim Hermitage was a partnership between the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Guggeenheim Heritage saw shows by Lichtenstein, Johns, Oldenburg, Rauschenberg, Wesselmann, Beckmann, Degas, Picasso, Rubens, Miro, Chagall, Bonnard, Kandinsky, Modigliani and Klee but some say that the New York Guggenheim did not do all it could to help their Las Vegas outpost stay afloat. Others say that even with more exhibits the Guggenheim Hermitage struggled to create community interest. If you want to check out the museum, now is the time, they are offering free admission until the museum closes.
Donald Trump opened his latest Las Vegas property on Friday at a ribbon cutting surrounded by beauty queens and fellow developers. The Trump International Hotel & Tower is a 64-story gold-covered with 1,282 suites and a restaurant named DJT (Trump's initials). The new tower joins other new towers which have luxury accommodations, dining and retail but no casinos.
All isn't rosy in Trumpland though, shares of Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc. hit an all-time low on Friday after the company's three casinos reported lower revenue for March. Trump's share price is down 83 percent for the past 52 weeks. Also, Trump Entertainment issued a statement last week saying they would sell a casino or two if they thought the sale would be in the best interest of the shareholders.
Trump has said he will wait to build a second planned Las Vegas high rise until he sells all the condo and hotel units in the first tower.
Some of the biggest casinos in Las Vegas now have condos that provide a safe haven from the world of jangling slot machines and endless gaming tables. The MGM Grand has The Signature at MGM Grand and now the Palms has Palms Place, a new condo located just west of the Las Vegas strip. The hotel, condo and spa does not have a casino. It is connected to the Palms with a moving walkway called a sky tube and has 600 condos, some of which will also be hotel rooms. The hotel spa includes a hammam and the hotel is also home to the first Sunset Tan franchise in the area. Celebrities buying into the complex reportedly include Eminem and Jessica Simpson. Rates for the hotel rooms start around $200 per night for a studio.
Steve Wynn is expanding his empire by creating the Encore Suites in Las Vegas. Encore Suites will offer 2,034 suites and will include resort suites which are 700 square feet and VIP suites, some of which measure more than most houses (up to 5,800 square feet). Encore Suites will also have five new signature restaurants, 11 retail outlets, seven bars and lounges, a nightclub and a spa and salon. There will also be an outdoor pool area and will have 60,000 square feet of event space. Wynn's Encore will open in December 2008.
If you are scrambling for a place to take your beloved for Valentine's Day, the Red Rock in Las Vegas might be the answer. it is far enough away from the Strip to not feel like a typical Vegas vacation but still in easy driving distance for restaurants and shows. The hotel is offering the Sweet Valentine package from February 8 through Sunday, February 17 which includes a guestroom at $199 per night, champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries after check in and a $25 food and beverage credit each day of your stay to use at any one of Red Rock's 10 restaurants or for room service. Other February packages include a Chocolate Champagne Indulgence spa package that includes a facial, scrub and a glass of champagne and chocolates at the Onyx Bar or the hotel lobby lounge for $315.
The resort also has several restaurant packages for Valentine's Day available at either T-Bones, an upscale steakhouse, or Terra Rossa, a gourmet Italian restaurant. Both restaurants have a variety of Champagne packages starting at Moet &Chandon and working up to the Dom Pérignon package which includes a bottle of Veuve Clicquot Dom Pérignon Champagne served tableside, accompanied by two Tiffany & Co. crystal flutes for $450.
Three years ago, when we first wrote about the Cosmopolitan casino project in Las Vegas, 2008 seemed far away. But now, in the year the project was initially set to launch it is instead facing foreclosure. Investment bank Deutsche Bank has taken the initial steps toward foreclosure on the $3 billion project. The developer and owner Ian Bruce Eichner is still looking to find new investors but the construction loan from Deutsche Bank of $760 million has gone into default. The massive hotel and casino is still under construction with a planned launch for 2009. The project is located between the Bellagio casino resort and the CityCenter casino complex on the Las Vegas Strip. Many of the nearly 3,000 hotel rooms were to be condo-hotels and the company says that 84% of the 2,184 units available have sold. Around the Strip though, projects have been falling through all over the place. Fortune Magazine cites the data from research firm Applied Analysis which states that in the past four years around 20,000 condo units in the Las Vegas area have either been scrapped or are on hold.
Just in time for the frenzy of the holiday shopping season there is a new place to shop in Las Vegas. Town Square is a massive $750 million mixed-use development on the southern end of the Las Vegas Strip which opened last week. The development is home to 150 stores, 12 restaurants and an 18-screen cineplex. Town Square is more town than square, it has a total of the equivalent of 28 football fields worth of mixed-use space. Retail offerings include Crabtree & Evelyn, Chico's, Lucky Brand, Apple, Steve Madden, H&M, Tommy Bahama, a two-level, 92,000-square-foot Robb & Stucky, a Borders Books & Music superstore, Design Within Reach, Guitar Center and a 50,000 square-foot Whole Foods Market. A variety of restaurants are also scattered through the development and there is an 8,000-square-foot park that includes a pond. A separate children's park offers a tree house and a hedge maze. The development also includes nine office buildings and there is space for a future 270-room hotel.
Another Las Vegas landmark has crumbled so that something new, larger and more luxurious can rise in its place. The New Frontier Hotel & Casino was imploded to make room for The Plaza, a Las Vegas version of the popular New York landmark. The New Frontier opened in 1942 and was the spot of Elvis Presley's first gig on the Las Vegas strip. The Plaza is estimated to be an $8 billion project and is expected to be completed in 2011. It will include a luxury hotel, private residences, retail, restaurants, a convention complex, entertainment, and of course, a casino.
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